


parallel line

by bromanceorromance



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 03:38:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16009493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bromanceorromance/pseuds/bromanceorromance
Summary: Emma can't help but think that the woman sitting across from her is beautiful. There's a strength in the way her shoulders sit, the way her back straightens, the way her hands remain steady. Her dark hair looks soft enough for Emma to run her fingers through, but the steely gaze beneath forbids her from such liberties."Why do you have a sudden interest in my son?" she demands.





	parallel line

**Author's Note:**

  * For [awhitefairytale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/awhitefairytale/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARDEN! I hope this isn't terrible. I tried :)

Emma can't help but think that the woman sitting across from her is beautiful. There's a strength in the way her shoulders sit, the way her back straightens, the way her hands remain steady. Her dark hair looks soft enough for Emma to run her fingers through, but the steely gaze beneath forbids her from such liberties.

"Why do you have a sudden interest in my son?" she demands.

Emma gapes at her. She hasn't even introduced herself and she's already demanding answers that Emma isn't sure she has.

"I - I just want to meet him. Be involv-"

"You haven't been involved at all for the first thirteen years of his life, why should I allow you to be involved now?"

Emma tears her eyes away from the woman, looking down at her worn tennis shoes. "I wasn't in a position to be involved before. Not in a way that I thought he would want," she confesses. "I - I've got a steady job now, though, and while it's not much, it keeps me in one place. I - I wanted to return here to see him. If he wants me to - if you'll allow him to. I just thought - I thought he might want to know where he comes from. I was an orphan - "

"I've had him since birth," the woman cuts her off. "He's never been made to feel unwanted."

Emma swallows. "I'm glad to hear that. I only wanted what's best for him."

"And he's never wanted for anything."

"Good. I - that's all I wanted for him. A stable family - a mom and dad to care for him like I wasn't able."

She clears her throat. "That isn't - It's just me. He's never expressed much of a need for a father, though."

Emma nods and curses the small part of her that cheers in victory that this gorgeous specimen is somehow single. It's not like anything would ever happen - she's the mother of her child, for god's sake. Still, Emma can't help being pleased.

The woman clears her throat and offers her hand to shake. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I introduced myself. Regina Mills."

"Emma. Emma Swan," she replies, shaking her hand.

"I'll have to see what Henry wants," Regina finally says. "It's ultimately his decision."

"Henry?" Emma frowns.

"Oh. That's the name I gave him. After my father."

 _Henry_ , Emma thinks. _A perfectly respectful name._ "It's nice." She pulls one of her business cards out of her pocket and quickly scribbles her number onto the back of it. "Please, let me know either way. I really would love to meet him. Get to know him. But I understand if he isn't interested."

 

\---

 

"Hello?" Emma answers her phone, not even glancing at the screen.

"Emma?" a deep voice replies.

Emma frowns. "Yes, this is she."

"This is Henry. My mom gave me this number."

"Oh, um, _hi_. I - I wasn't expecting - I assumed she'd be calling me to arrange a meeting if you had wanted that."

"Is this not okay? I can - "

"No, this is fine. This is _good_ ," Emma insists. "Although, I would like to meet you in person."

"Yeah, um, there's this coffee shop on Pence?"

"Ruby's, yeah, I know it."

"We could meet there tomorrow? About five-thirty?" Henry sounds hesitant, as if he expects her to refuse him.

"Okay, yeah. That'd be great."

 

\---

 

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina demands, striding into Emma's office without invitation.

Emma frowns. "I'm working at the moment."

Regina huffs. "You've been meeting with Henry."

"Yeah, he called a few weeks ago - "

"I had no knowledge of this. He's been _lying_ to me. Told me he was out with friends every Thursday when you two have apparently been meeting."

"Oh, Henry," Emma sighs. "I had no idea, Regina, honest. I assumed you knew he'd called - "

"He stole your number out of my purse. I hadn't gotten around to _telling_ him about you!"

Emma's face falls, eyes darkening. "You hadn't told him about me? He said he'd been asking about me for _ages_."

Regina scowls. "He already has a mother. I didn't see a need for him to have another."

"That isn't fair, Regina. Not to him."

"And here you come waltzing into his life, talking about what's good for him when you gave him up thirteen years ago. _I'm_  the one whose raised that boy. You - "

Emma stands, hands clenched to her sides. "I've never claimed any such thing."

"You don't deserve to know him - you don't deserve to swoop in and be the cool mom when I'm the one that has to make him do his homework and clean his room."

"I never said I wanted to take your place - "

"It doesn't matter what you _said_ , Emma. You know what he told me last night? 'You're not my real mom, anyways.' You know what that feels like? I've raised him - "

"Just because you and Henry aren't getting along, that doesn't mean it's my fault."

"It _is_ , though, Emma. He wasn't nearly this stubborn before he met you."

Emma glares across the desk into her furious eyes. "I don't know what you expect me to do about it. You can't very well forbid him from seeing me - he'll just go behind your back again, whether I condone it or not."

Regina's tongue darts out to wet her lips and Emma's eyes can't help following the movement. "I don't want him seeing you without me."

"Fine. We meet at Ruby's on Pence every Thursday."

"Fine."

 

\---

 

"You don't need to be here," Henry argues. "We're not doing anything wrong. We just hang out and talk. She buys me hot chocolate."

Regina frowns. "You lied to me for weeks about these meetings taking place. Until you decide to be honest with me, I'm accompanying you to these meetings with Emma."

"Can't you just - sit over there?" Henry asks, gesturing to the other side of the coffeeshop.

"No. I'm joining you and Emma. If she's going to be a part of your life, then I need to get to know her just as much as you do."

Henry sighs, finally taking a seat next to his mom. Emma returns with their drinks a moment later, passing Regina a hot chocolate.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure what you'd want, but this is what me and the kid usually get."

Regina glares at the cup set before her. "This is fine."

"Kid, what trouble have you gotten into this week?" Emma asks.

Henry shrugs. "We've started on Shakespeare in English."

Emma tries to bite back the frown threatening to cross her lips. "Yeah?"

He just shrugs again, staring down at the table.

"What about you, Regina?" Emma turns to the older woman, hoping to get at least one of the Mills to talk to her. "How has your week been? You work at the mayor's office, right?"

Regina shoots her son a frown before nodding. "Yes, we've been working on re-zoning some space downtown. Someone's requested he be allowed to turn it into a fast-food place, but the neighborhood directly behind it hasn't been particularly favorable of the idea."

Emma briefly considers returning to Shakespeare - at least the Bard had more interesting topics to peruse. "How long is that expected to take?" she asks instead.

Henry snorts, well aware of Emma's fake-enthusiasm on the topic.

"A few more weeks," Regina replies shortly.

Emma can't pretend to be interested in the topic at hand, but she doesn't have to fake her interest in the person speaking. "Not a terribly exciting week, then?"

Regina shrugs and the movement looks so foreign on her immaculate appearance that Emma suddenly wonders what she's like when she really lets herself go. An image of reddened lips, mussed hair, and dark eyes flashes across Emma's mind and she bites her lip, looking out the window for a distraction.

"Her job is boring," Henry monotones.

Emma quirks an eyebrow at him. "You think so?"

"She sits at a desk all day."

Regina looks away, out the window Emma had just vacated, but Emma can't help thinking she looks a little saddened by her son's words.

"That doesn't mean it's boring," Emma says. "I'm sure the paperwork can get tedious, but she probably talks to a lot of people - that's entertaining most days."

Regina's lips curve up into the barest of smiles, eyes darting across the table to Emma.

 

\---

 

"Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?" Emma asks, heart hammering in her chest. She may be reading the situation all wrong. Henry insisted that his mom was interested in her, but Emma could barely fathom a reason _why_. It'd been a year since she'd first met the woman and despite the frequent meetings with her and Henry, she still could barely get a read on Regina.

"Oh, Henry's supposed to be out with a friend," Regina replies, clearly not understanding the _date_ that was implied.

Emma clears her throat, cheeks brightening. "Oh, um, I thought it could just be you and me? This time?"

Regina studies her for a moment and Emma's just about to start apologizing for the misunderstanding when she timidly replies, "Like a date?"

Emma nods, smiling hopefully.

The corner of Regina's mouth twitches. "Okay. Where shall we meet?"

"I'll pick you up," Emma assures her. "About seven?"

 

\---

 

Emma kisses Regina goodnight before she can talk herself out of it. It's meant to be just a chaste brush of lips against lips, but Regina turns to press her back against the door. Emma gasps and Regina's tongue slides into her mouth. She can't say she's disappointed with the turn of events, though.

She wonders how far this might go when the door suddenly opens and Emma almost falls through it. Regina catches her and they both stare wide-eyed at the teenage boy that had interrupted them.

Henry smirks. "I thought you might like to know that I came home early. Before you got any, uh, ideas." He turns and walks away, but Emma hears him chuckle.

"I - I wasn't going to tell him about this," Regina confesses.

Emma laughs. "Ever? I think he'd notice his moms dating."

Regina smiles, pressing another quick kiss to Emma's lips. "Eventually. Just not yet."

"You know he's the one that told me you were interested."

"What?"

"I wasn't entirely sure if he was trying to pull an elaborate prank on me, but he seemed to earnest."

Regina's eyes narrow, looking down the hall where her son had disappeared. Then her eyes soften, turning back to Emma. "I'm glad he did. If you weren't going to figure it out yourself."

Emma playfully shoves her shoulder. "You are impossible to read. I've been trying for the last year to figure you out. I thought you hated me. But then you kept letting me see Henry. It was confusing."

"I wanted you to stick around for Henry…"

"Not you? Why can't it be both?" Emma asks. "I'm never abandoning that kid again, but that doesn't mean I can't - care about you, too."

"I don't - I've barely dated since I got Henry. I haven't wanted to much, but I never wanted Henry to know about any of them. Not until it was serious. That's why I wasn't going to tell him about us. Not until it was serious."

"Asking you out was serious enough for me, Regina. I knew this would change everything."

 

\---

 

"Moms!" Henry calls, shutting the door behind him. "I passed the test. You owe me - "

Emma lifts an eyebrow at him as he comes around the corner. "I carried you for nine months, tell me what it is I owe you?" She smirks.

"And I've supported you for thirteen years," Regina adds.

Henry rolls his eyes. "You both promised we'd go for Chinese tonight if I passed my geometry test," he reminds them.

Emma grabs his wrist, pulling him over to take a seat between them on the couch. "Good job, kid."

"Are we getting Chinese?" Henry asks, turning puppy eyes to Emma. He knows Regina is already immune to them.

"Yeah, kid, we'll get Chinese," Emma easily agrees. "But first, we need to talk to you."

Henry turns to study Regina's expression.

Regina's lips curve up into a smile.

"Is Emma moving in?" Henry asks. "Because she's here all the time anyways. And I'm okay with it."

"Yeah?" Emma asks. "You sure?"

"Of course," he says, starting to stand.

Emma and Regina both take an arm and stop him, pulling him back down to the couch.

"That's not it," Regina tells him, shooting Emma a warning look.

"It's - well, I asked your mom to marry me."

Henry's eyes brighten. "So you are moving in?"

Emma chuckles. "She hasn't given me an answer. She wants me to ask you first."

Henry stares at her for a moment, jaw dropping. He blinks and snaps out of it and grins. "You have my permission. You have my absolute undying permission," he tells her. He turns to Regina. "Now, I'll go hang out next door while you give her a proper answer." He smirks.

"Make sure you do your homework. Don't just play video games the whole time," Regina orders him. "I'll be checking."

"Can we still get Chinese tonight?"

Emma huffs. "Yeah, kid, we'll get Chinese."

"I'll be back in an hour. I'll announce my presence very loudly."

Regina blushes, reaching over to slap his arm. "Go."

He disappears out the door, huge grin on his face. "An hour," he reminds them.

"I told you he'd be fine with it," Emma says as soon as he's gone.

Regina stares after him for a moment, a soft smile on her face. "So? Will you marry me?" she asks with a smirk.

"What?" Emma protests. "I'm the one asking _you_."

"Is that a yes?"

Emma leans forward and captures his lips in a brief kiss. "Fuck you. Of course it's a yes."

 


End file.
